Our Lady of Kazan (Theotokos Kazanskaya) Gold Body Icon

This gold body icon embraces a miniature composition called 'Our Lady of Kazan' and an inscription in Church Slavonic on the reverse: Образ Пресвятой Богородицы Казанская. (The Most-holy Theotokos of Kazan). Dimensions (with bail): 31mm (1 1/4 inch) high x 20mm (3/4 inch) wide. It will befit a woman as much as a man. Laser cutwork jewelry technique over matte and polished 585 rose gold. Made in Kostroma, Russia.

All historical icons are timeless landmarks. The icon 'Our Lady of Kazan' is one of the most revered Russian Orthodox icon. Its iconographic composition is referred to as Hodegetria meaning 'She who shows the Way' (in Russian: 'Путеводительница'). Hodegetria is one of the major types of the Theotokos in Byzantine art showing a standing Virgin holding the Child on her left arm. Reflection: The life of the Orthodox Church provides us with numerous of how Almighty God manifests His power. For example, a miracle was wrought through an icon of the Holy Mother of God in the year 1579 in the home of a boyar named Ermolay in the Russian city of Kazan. Two of the boyar's servants, rummaging in Ermolay's attic one day, came upon a rolled-up piece of cloth that depicts the beautiful image of a woman's face and a child. The image emanated holiness and piety. One of the servants was humble and modest, while the other was vain and talkative. Matrona-the vain and talkative one, whose name we know coarsely mocked her humble companion. To give even more force to her vulgarity, she spat on the painting. At that instant Matrona fell to the ground, writhing with her whole body, blind and dumb and began foaming at the mouth. That night the Theotokos appeared to the parents of the unfortunate girl, and told them what had happened to their daughter. She told them to get a priest and have him pray before the image that had been found and sprinkle the girl with holy water, and then she would be healed. When this was done, Matrona was healed, and from then on she amended her disposition and was more modest. Thus was a miracle-working icon of the Holy Theotokos discovered.